10 of Karen Black’s Most Memorable Performances

Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Black starred as Jack Nicholson's iritating girlfriend Rayette in this '70s classic. Black would receive her lone Oscar-nomination for the role.

Nashville (1975)
In Robert Altman's ensemble, Black starred as a rising-country-music-star Connie White, who gets to sing at the famous Grand Ole Opry.

Easy Riders (1969)
In her feature film debut, Black appears in the latter part of Hopper's biker odyssey as a prostitute that spends the night walking through the French quarter of New Oreleans on an acid trip with the two leads.

The Great Gatsby (1974)
Before Baz Luhrmann's take on Fitzgerald's classic novel, Black starred as Myrtle Wilson with Bruce Dern, Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

Airport 1975 (1974)
Black starred alongside Charlton Heston in the classic disaster film where a plane is rendered pilotless after crashing with a smaller plane.

Trilogy of Terror (1975)
Black gets the wits scarred out of her in this horror anthology that sees her at the center of three bizarre scenarios, including battling ankle-height voodo dolls.

Family Plot (1976)
Black reunited with Bruce Dern in Alfred Hitchcock's final film about a couple who encounter serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.

Children of the Night (1991)
The horror genre became a staple for Black in the later half of her career -- here she played a school teacher forced to stop an invasion of vampires taking over her town.

Mirror Mirror (1990)
Black plays the mother of a tormented girl who ends up taking revenge on her bullies using a antique mirror possessed by a demon that grants her special powers.

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
In one of her last major films, Black plays the matriach of a sadistic backwater family of serial killers who take teenagers prisoner.